He was a tall, pale, thin man, whose skin seemed stretched on his bones, with a strongly developed under-jaw, like that of a ravenous animal, and eyes of indefinable color, always changing, and veiled behind golden-rimmed spectacles.

His hands were soft and smooth, with moist palms and closely cut nails--vicious hands, made to take cunningly what they coveted.

He had scanty hair, of a pale yellow, parted just above the ear, so as to enable him to brush it over the top of his head.

This personage, clad in a double-breasted surtout, over a white waistcoat, and wearing a many-colored rosette, was called Hermann Herzog.
A daring financier, he had come from Luxembourg, preceded by a great reputation; and, in a few months, he had launched in Paris such a series of important affairs that the big-wigs on the Exchange felt bound to treat with him.

There were many rumors current about him.